Staying Safe Is Part of the Eviction Job reports Emergency Locksmiths Brentwood

Locksmiths and processors know their job involves peril

(EMAILWIRE.COM, January 02, 2013 ) San Francisco, CA -- There are tricks and tips that many locksmiths and process servers know when they go out during their job. Jeff Abegglen has learned a trick or two for staying safe on the job.

"I post the notice on the door, then I knock, I stand 10 to 15 feet away from the door, and off to the side, never directly in front," said Abegglen, a Sacramento process server who frequently gives eviction notices to homeowners and tenants. "If they have a gun, they're going to shoot straight through the door."

Jeff is one of many who are behind-the-scenes when it comes to contact with those losing their homes.

The process can turn out to be a fatal one, just as it was in Galt on Wednesday. Animal control officer Roy Marcum went out in order to collect dogs from a home after the owner had been evicted. However, the home was not empty, and Marcum was murdered after being shot with a shotgun blast through the front door. Former homeowner Francis Corey was arrested following the event, and was held on suspicion of murder after a standoff with the police.

The murder is a stirringly similar to an April death that was experienced in Stanislaus County, when a Sheriff's deputy and locksmith were murdered while serving an eviction notice to a Modesto resident.

Lauri Greenberg explains that emotions can run ragged when one is losing his/her home. Greenberg is the co-owner of Moe's process Serving in Sacramento, which currently employs Abegglen.

"Yes, these cases really hit home for us," Greenberg said of violent outcomes to evictions. "We do come up against hostility, and there seems to be an increase in hostility."

Greenberg stated that the number of evicted persons who have not yet left their residence (known as unlawful detainers) has tripled since the housing market crash half a decade ago. She served 10 notices a month prior to that event, and now she has anywhere from 30 to 50 per month.